UNCW's Herman to Receive UNC Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence
4/25/2006 11:10:40 AM
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Wilmington, N.C. - Russell L. Herman, an associate professor of mathematics at University of North Carolina Wilmington, has been selected as an Excellence in Teaching 2006 winner by The Board of Governors of the 16-campus University of North Carolina. During a recognition luncheon to be held in conjunction with the Board's May 12 meeting, a faculty member from each UNC campus will receive a commemorative bronze medallion and a $7,500 cash prize.
The 16 recipients, representing an array of academic disciplines, were nominated by special committees on their home campuses and selected by the Board of Governors Committee on Personnel and Tenure, chaired by Charles Mercer of Raleigh. The awards will be presented by UNC President Erskine Bowles and Board of Governors Chairman J. Bradley Wilson of Cary.
At UNCW, students in his mathematics and physics classes describe Herman as "the tough teacher that you have to take," a professor who is also known to be caring, demanding, fair, and hardworking. Among the keys to his success are being accessible to students, providing timely feedback, knowing all his students by name, and believing that learning takes place "when students actively explore the course material both in and out of the classroom." One of the earliest adopters of technology to improve teaching and learning, he has developed software for graphing and analysis in science and mathematics courses and has presented numerous workshops on teaching science and math. In addition, Herman has been active at UNCW's Center for Teaching Excellence and in programs for K-12 teachers and students offered by the Science and Math Education Center and the NC Partnership for Improving Mathematics and Science.
A faculty member at UNCW since 1990, Herman has also received the 2005 Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Award, the 2005 Distinguished Teaching Professorship Award and has recently been promoted to full professor of mathematics. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Empire State College, a master's degree in physics from Temple University, and a master's degree in mathematics and a doctoral degree in physics from Clarkson University.
Established by the Board of Governors in April 1994 to underscore the importance of teaching and to reward good teaching across the University, the awards are given annually to a tenured faculty member from each UNC campus. Winners must have taught at their present institutions at least seven years. No one may receive the award more than once.
The oldest public university in America, the University of North Carolina encompasses all 16 of North Carolina's public institutions that grant baccalaureate degrees and enrolls nearly 200,000 students. UNC campuses support a broad array of distinguished liberal-arts programs, two medical schools and one teaching hospital, two law schools, a veterinary school, a school of pharmacy, 12 nursing programs, 15 schools of education, three schools of engineering, and a specialized school for performing artists. Also under the University umbrella are UNC-TV with its 11-station statewide broadcast network, and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, the nation's first public residential high school for gifted students.
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Russ Herman
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